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At Last

It's been quite a while since I've updated you all and I thought I'd pop in with an update that I hope will usher in a new era of YTMND.

A lot of you know that for some time now I've been working on the Flash template for YTMND which I released the source for more than a year ago. This was meant to be a solution which would allow YTMNDs to look and synchronize the same across all browsers as well as play sound without gaps. The solution wasn't ideal; it required tens of thousands of lines of Actionscript, PHP and C. It required that all non-Flash-compatible file formats (GIF, WAV) be converted to SWF, which was a painful process at best.

Over the last few weeks I've been trying to create a more elegant solution. Today I'd like to unveil the new YTMND template.

New Features

All sound is now played through Flash. WAV files included.

Properly formed WAV files (and even some MP3s) now loop gaplessly.

Loading is now done asynchronously. (images and sound files will load at the same time, reducing load times.)

All Javascript ported to jQuery so the template should function the same across all browsers.

Secret button on the bottom left of YTMNDs to allow resynchronization of the YTMND without reload.

Advertisements shown while loading (to people coming to YTMNDs with a non-ytmnd.com referrer)

Support for new features which are being launched in 2.0 (like choosing both a foreground and background image, exact placement of images, new zooming text styles, OGG support, and many others)

So check it out. You can look at new YTMNDs or even old classics that haven't worked in years. Please leave bug reports/thoughts/etc in the comments. I'm eager to hear what you guys think.

Now I'd like to take a minute (just sit right there) to talk about YTMND 2.0. Last week I merged all the development code into the main trunk, which is a major step towards launching 2.0. Originally I planned to launch on April 1st, which would be YTMND's sixth birthday, but due to my current full-time freelance gig, I've been forced to only develop on nights and weekends. That being said, I think we're still on for an April launch. YTMND 2.0 is more-or-less feature-locked. Most of what's left is just templating and porting over some of the new features. I'm working on a formal changelog, which I'm hoping to release before the new site to prepare everyone for the massive number of changes. So stay tuned.

Since we're moving to an entirely Flash solution, I think it's a good time to reflect on the last few years of being forced to rely on Quicktime to play our sound files in most browsers. Somehow over the years it's gotten exponentially worse at playing sound files with standards created decades ago. So as a big fuck you to Apple and Quicktime, I'm launching a new contest today with a Quicktime/WAV theme. Feel free to use giant, gapless WAV files.

there's a user named WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW or something, so I don't know how that would work without having him destroy the layout everytime he comments. (I remember he messed up spy whenever he voted on something, lol)

If it makes you feel better, I spent significant time trying to find a 100% HTML5 solution. HTML5 just isn't there yet and each browser is randomly choosing what codecs to support. There also is not full looping support and 100% of browsers have yet to implement an event to tell the DOM when the sound has actually loaded. Check out http://html5doctor.com/native-audio-in-the-browser/

I'm well aware of the issues that the video tag in HTML5 presents. And it'd be naive to believe that HTML5 will be the industry standard in any less than 2 or 3 years. And from what I have seen of embedded video in HTML5 so far...anyone who thinks it's going to kill Flash is someone who wants to regulate the content you can access on a proprietary device or delivery system. But that's enough about Hulu.

Switching from Flash to H.264 is just trading one evil for another. Apple's licensing is horrific. Ultimately the only way Flash video will get replaced by HTML5 is if every browser has full support for a free codec like OGG/Theora.

Yes hank (hey now) I have been absent for quite a while due to certain things but yes I do usually look at YTMND at least once a day. I haven't missed much. Although as of late I wish there are a lot of things (read fads) that I could have done without. I mean this whole moon kkkrew is degrading the good name of DR-L337 every time they use AT&T Mike.

Is it just me (I tried it Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari), or does http://yourethemannowdog.ytmnd.com/ no longer have any audio since the switch to Flash? Some other sites don't have audio either. I don't know if it's because there's some minor bugs to be worked out or what. Could very well be something to do with my end in trying to view them, but I don't know.
Oh, and that ads thing you have to see while a site loads is annoying. Expect hatred for doing that

Some WAVs which aren't encoded well may not play at all. The more you find, the better the chance I will be able to fix this. The WAV code is in its infancy so there are going to be a lot of cases where special rules will need to be put into it so it will play all files.

yeah, no wavs are working for me either. when I was in IE and Chrome, I got an ad on the page too. and IE wouldn't even let me view the site. told me to install java or something. i rarely use those browsers anyway, so no big deal. but the wavs aren't working in Firefox either.

Okay, I rolled out an update which should handle weird sample rates better. yourethemannowdog, advicemax6 now work. lynchstares is a non-PCM WAV, which at this point in time I don't even know how to parse. It still isnt clear why bum.ytmnd.com isn't working but I'm looking into it. Again, if you find a site that isnt working, let me know.

More WAV problems to report: http://ytmnd.com/assets/e59248ba686027b1af34e11539369af0 does not work. http://forgotpol.ytmnd.com/ this site's WAV appears to have been converted at the wrong sample rate as it is way to low in pitch. This one's audio doesn't work at all: http://hal-9000.ytmnd.com/ Here is another one that got pitch shifted: http://lostwoods.ytmnd.com/ This one doesn't have audio: http://cheapwallpaper.ytmnd.com/

I'll work on the slow WAVs tonight; these are more examples of weird sample rates. I need to double check my math, as Flash plays at 44100Hz @ 2channels, so everything is being converted to that speed. The audio files you linked which weren't playing at all were non-PCM, which are lower priority than getting non-standard sample rates going.

A few of my older sites didn't have sound the other day but that does seem to be fixed now - the sync that was there before is screwed up now (padme.ytmnd.com). Probably an unavoidable side effect of making sites during the (refresh) era. Trying the /old link plays, but the sync is off there too...wav seems to be playing slower. Since most of my old sites suck anyway, I don't really care.

It might just be me, but for some reason I'm only hearing sites play the first part of their audio and then loop. Check out http://profx.ytmnd.com/ and http://picard.ytmnd.com/ and compare with their actual sound assets

I think the "Javascript error" (i.e., You must have JavaScript enabled) might be related to the ads? I noticed that the same ads are loading with each Javascript error I get, and I can eventually get the site to load by F5'ing it.

what do you mean by "Javascript error", the "You must have Javascript enabled." is a timeout from flash, it doesn't actually check if Javascript is enabled. When you see that message and you leave the browser open, does it eventually play for you?

Yes, that's the message I'm getting - I don't see the "Site Junk Loading" message or the % loaded counter. You can see the connections being made to the ad servers in the browser's bottom left corner, then it just says "Javascript must be enabled to view this site" under the ytmnd logo, then the ad loads in and it stays there. I'll try to reproduce it and let it sit to see if it loads in eventually.

ok, reproduced it while trying to load "The Quick Steal" - http://quicksteal.ytmnd.com/. I'll post a screenshot for you - http://quicklystolen.ytmnd.com. The first time I tried to load, I got frozen on the ad - see the screenshot in the site. I waited 5 minutes, with no change, and then hit F5. Same thing happened when trying to load the second time - frozen at the ad. I waited 5 minutes and then hit F5 - same thing. F5 again - this time worked, the site loaded. Hit F5 a fourth time and got the error again.

That is peculiar. The ad javascript shouldn't interfere with the rest of the page; I put it in an iframe for that reason. What happens when you go to an adless version of the site. Go to http://ytmnd.com/sites/profile/932453 and then click on the link to the site. You shouldn't get an ad. Does it ever have any trouble loading then?

ffs....had tons of trouble making the site (kept saying i couldn't store audio to database, which is funny because i stole your .wav from banned.ytmnd.com AND the .mp3 from quicksteal.ytmnd.com) - i posted the screenshot to my test site at gordon-fremen.ytmnd.com. I'll try what you said in your comment and let you know. All this sh*t might just be my sh*tty Quebec hotel wifi....

for now, this is a beta of the new player, but in april, it's getting a new skin and more features. I need to actually check how many people use the hash option, because if it isnt a significant amount im not going to port it over.

Yeah, I've also been using the "# !" since the triangle was released. I tried it for a month or so, but I didn't like it. I think it distracts from the YTMND site I'm viewing.
Some of your older fans (including myself) would greatly appreciate it if you brought them back. I'll understand if you don't do it, though.

My god max what have you done the menu that comes up when you click on the YTMND logo is too big! Take out the comments link since its redundant, and the user profile link, and the keywords link and make it about half as fat. That's my suggestion.

I made an HTML5 edition and tested it on iPhone. While apple claims they support the audio tag in HTML, it actually just shows a play button which then takes you to the quicktime app, meaning you cant play the sound while looking at the page on an iPhone. As for making an app, I'd like one, but frankly the time could be better spent on YTMND 2.0 or making the template better. The return on work wouldn't be worth it at this point.

Here isone site: http://umdlaunch.ytmnd.com/, on these other sites, nothing loads (using firefox): http://takeshikaga.ytmnd.com/, http://epicgeordi.ytmnd.com/. This site sounds good but somehow, the sound sounds slowed down a little bit: http://picard.ytmnd.com/

Here is a really strange bug: http://shared.ytmnd.com/ when I hit the resync button in the lower left the audio restarts but the animation does not. This seems to be the only site I've seen thus far that has this problem and I have tried out the resync button on several other sites and it works great except on this one.

Looking good so far. My wtfisthatredcartwheelingthingy.ytmnd.com (the site with Mega Man) is off, but 18,000Hz is far from standard so I'm surprised the sound plays at all. IE8 seems to play the sound only. Also HTML5 is overrated and overhyped. (Doesn't [object type="video/___" data="video-filename.url"] handle [video]'s cases already? The real problem to me seems getting players to agree on a few codecs, default [param]s, gaplessness, etc. Meh.)

Problem: YTMNDs aren't loading properly when they have ads. One of them just kept the ad on the page and never went to the ytmnd (even after the count-down), and another played the audio with the zoom text but kept the ad and didn't show the image. Nothing happened when I tried the site again or when I clicked the secret re-synch button

YES YES! MAX YOU ARE A SAINT!
Mid 2007 rundll32.exe got corrupted on my pc, since then nothing quicktime/apple related works on my pc!
Now I can finally enjoy this great site again!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

thanks for including the link to veiw the sites the old way. it's the only way that's working for me. i welcome this change, and i hope that all the kinks get worked out. the poor performance is partially (if not completely) due to the fact that i'm using an old computer and old browsers. i'm not a fan of the huge header that comes up now when you click on the ytmnd logo. also, i'm a little bummed that mp3s are no longer going to have gaps because i have made sites where i took those gaps into consideration

while making the loop, and now they don't loop as well. i like the reload button in the corner, that was a good idea. the main problems i've been having is sound not playing right (skipping) and not being able to veiw sites at all. but if you just keep that old way feature i'll be fine.

Well good job with getting the audio right for the most part. I got tired of having to use IEtab to watch sites that Firefox decided to screw up the synchronization on.
My only complaints that there is a sound fidelity loss in sites some using wav audio when viewed in flash.
I also feel the new top bar for the sites is too large, mainly due to the redundancy of a user profile button, and the fact the font size could be a lot smaller.